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Some of you may have seen the 2007 film Into the Wild that was directed by Sean Penn. It was based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer that documented the travels of Christopher McCandless A.K.A ” Alexander Supertramp” across North America and his life spent in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s which ultimately took his life as he became trapped and died of starvation. A grim ending but yet a inspirational story of living life on a whim You can read more about Christopher’s adventures here
2007 Film Into the Wild.
I watched this movie not too long ago and kinda said to myself I would like to try that one day, not the dying part and being trapped in the wilderness part but the just a getting away from it all part. I think at one point all of us have felt the urge to jump off the grid cash it all in and live a simpler life but we soon realize we have become way too accustomed to life’s great amenities like hot water and electricity and think better of it . I spend about 90% of my life these days behind a computer so I was down for the technology hiatus plus I knew if I went on a “typical” vacation I would have found some internet access somewhere and wasted my whole trip. The timing was perfect over the Memorial Day holiday for me to give this idea a shot so I made the commitment and did it.
I decided to go to Mt Whitney CA in the Sequoia National forest. My decision to go there was just based on closing my eyes and pointing to a place in on a So Cal map, that was the extent of my choosing. I had never been there nor did I have any real idea where I would sleep I just Google mapped a few areas made a copy of the satellite images and off in the woods I went like a Lincoln Supertramp.I figured I could last at least 4 nights isolated in the woods and if nothing else I would have a done something that most people will never try.
Mt Whitney. Could have picked a tamer spot
With everything in life you can prepare yourself mentally and physically to achieve a task but nothing compares to doing the real thing. I knew the elevation was high, the terrain was rough, it might get cold and I would probably get lonely by myself . But it was higher, rougher, colder and lonelier that I imagined. I’m not a world class camper so as I started my journey I immediately noticed I had some issues I wasn’t quite ready for . For starters the terrain was steep and the ground was very very soft . It felt like walking on beach sand and being in the high elevation of +10,000 feet. I felt like I had a concrete block on my chest. I could cover only a few miles a day before getting very fatigued. The other thing is I didn’t pack the right foods or as much water as I would have liked. All I ate pretty much for 5 days were the crappy expired Muscle Milk bars I bought at the 99c store. They tasted like chocolate dipped in sand and rubbed on someones belly button. The day time temperatures were kinda warm but at night It got close to freezing temperatures and my cheap $25 Big Five Sporting goods sleeping bag was about as warming as wearing a wind breaker in the Arctic. The wind one night was so bad it damn near destroyed my cheap 20 dollar tent. It would have been nice to build a fire at night to keep warm but In So Cal you can not burn fires in most wilderness areas because of the extreme fire danger plus I was camping out in a non permitted area without a permit. Not to mention the forest makes some spooky sounds at night and I could have sworn there were evil wolf shadows howling right outside of my tent. I did however pack one life saving necessity. Right before I hit the trail I bought a bottle of Gentleman’s Jack
Gentleman’s Jack. The beverage of backpackers
Christopher McCandless documented his journeys in a diary but technolgy has come a long way so I used a high def camera. Problem is my batteries died on day 3. New rule pack extra batteries as the cold weather sucks those things dry.
My documentary
I can tell you I am not cut out for long term off the grid living. First, I talk way too much to be alone for too long and I’m glad nobody was spying on me because I spent a lot of time talking to myself and the imaginary wolves up there. Second, I’m not a hunter and like animals too much to kill them so I would have nothing to eat besides leaves and bark. I would have to brush up on my gardening skills. I will say the trip served a purpose and that was to keep me grounded and realigned my thinking. If you do something like this you will learn to appreciate the many amenities you have in life that you overlook each day like hot water, electricity, refrigeration, plumbing, grocery stores and mattresses. In the end I’m glad I did this. I can’t say I will ever try something like this again but something tells me I probably will 🙂
Doug
